TEQUILA SUNRISE
by twitchytwain
Summary: When uptight law student, Bonnie gets jilted at the alter by governor's son, Marcel Gerard she runs to steamy, sultry Havana Cuba to forget and as Caroline would put it, get her groove back! Will the rogue and mysterious Kol Mikaelson be that hot, juicy distraction she's been dying for? And has her heart really healed from Marcel's betrayal? Pairings: Kennett; Rebel; Klaroline
1. Chapter 1

ONE

Bonnie swayed her hips like a punch drunk pendulum, drum beats hammering inside her chest. He tangled his hand in her tousled her, the other hand sliding down her gyrating hips to drive their rhythm. She arched her sweltering back, her sleek thighs tangling with his strong legs. The thick steamy Havana heat intoxicated her, broke her out of her shell as she laughed into his ear.

Bonnie couldn't remember his name and she didn't care. Maybe it was the rum fuelled binge or the strong scent of tobacco snaking around the club but she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted this nameless creature with dirty blond hair and eyes that played filthy tricks with her mind to kiss her. Reliable, upright, uptight Bonnie Bennett wanted this swarthy agile man with the most tantalizing smile she had ever seen to take her home with him.

What had Caroline called it?

_Living in the moment!_

Stop being so careful, Bon Bon! Stop playing it safe, she had yelled at her hoping the yelling and the shaking would do her some good.

What had safe gotten her?

Safe had gotten her a Georgetown law scholarship in Washington DC. Safe had gotten her a prestigious governor's son, Marcel Gerard. The same Marcel Gerard had cheated on her four days before their wedding.

Playing safe was a pain.

He was pulling her up when it happened, drawing her close to his searing heat.

"Your place or mine?" Bonnie breathed into his ear, taking the bull by the horns. Her voice was still husky from last night's tequila binge with Caroline and Elena. He spun her around; his arm snaking around her waist then came full circle slamming her against his chest. Bonnie gasped at the sheer force, her eyes meeting his for what felt like the first time.

"No objectivar me encanta" he grinned winking at her.

"I didn't catch that" Bonnie slurred back, the vibrating hum of his voice titillating every single nook in her body.

"So you find me handsome?"

Cocky Shit.

He could be as arrogant as he chose to be, she thought gripping her bottom lip in-between her teeth. She wouldn't need him for conversation anyway. This would be physical, strictly physical. She could do that couldn't she? She could let go and just be a writhing heated beast in steamy, sultry Havana.

"Relax darling, of course I'll give you what you need. " He said cupping her face in his hands. Bonnie moaned, her eyes falling to his succulent lips. He twirled her around again before the dirty thoughts in her head could take form and ravage his mouth. He moved behind her, rolling his hips in line with hers then he grabbed her throat from behind steering her face to his before kissing her hard and deep. Somewhere in the back of her head, Bonnie knew she had to find Elena and Caroline in the bustling smoky club but she couldn't think straight. He swept his tongue over the curved contours of her lush lips, teasing the inside of her mouth. Bonnie groaned into his mouth tasting the sweet rum he'd consumed earlier and rolling her tongue over its fiery cinnamon spice.

Yes it must be the rum, she thought. She couldn't think straight because of his hot rum soaked mouth.

"My place" he whispered, his lips grazing the heated shell of her ear.

Bonnie smiled gathering the chiffon folds of her flimsy white dress and followed him down the narrow trails, the lantern lit archways and into the sultry Havana streets.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

"So, how does this usually work?" She asked her trembling hands cupping his tight sweet ass. He pulled back, brown eyes dancing in the moonlight and his lips crooked into an amused smile.

"Well," he began, his dimpled grin broadening "we usually undress first, kiss a few times then I put my-"

"I meant the whole no strings attached thing"

"How does it work?" he asked studying her long and hard as her fingers crawled back up to the back of his neck. She had no clue what to do with them.

"Yeah, uhmm…the rules…"

"Is this your first time darling?"

"No!" she cried, heat flaring up into her cheeks.

"I just thought that the rules might be different for uhm…different countries, you know" she stammered watching him undo the straps of her chiffon dress. Whatever little there was to it slid to the floor in a cloud of lust and the realization hit her, she was alone with a man he didn't know from a bar of soap. Her heart fluttered again, heat climbing up her stiff neck.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you darling but sex is a universal language"

"My body," he whispered, his voice husky as his finger traced its way up her quivering inner thigh "and your body, they all speak the same language"

"Amor"

"Amor?" Bonnie repeated as if to test the authenticity of his practised line. She wondered how many girls he had used it on.

"Si, amor" he repeated burying his fingers into her hair and catching her bottom lip between his teeth as she moaned into his ravenous mouth. She forgot, she forgot her argument again.

Dammit.

"What are the rules?" she exhaled pressing her hands against his hard, heaving, sweltering chest. She was desperate for a response, a way forward and some sort of contract detailing the consequences of her actions. She needed to know the rules so she could figure out how to play them.

"Tell me to stop and I will" he said softly trailing her heated cheek with his thumb. His other hand was less chivalrous in its zealous seduction between her shuddering thighs.

"Wha-uh-I –just-uh-"she stuttered trying to recall any and everything about how to control herself, how to regulate her emotions. She bit her lower lip and clenched her hips around him. She had not known pleasure like this before, had no idea that it could be possible for a man to make a feel this way. Sense told her that her mind was playing tricks on her, logic told her that it was the foreign air toying with her mind.

"Rule number one," he said as he wrapped his lips around the stem of her right nipple, sliding it and out of his searing mouth "there are no rules"

"Rule number two," his tongue whirled around her left nipple fogging Bonnie's brain as she wrapped her right leg around his lean hips "there are no rules"

"Rule number three" he drew back, "say it with me" he murmured, his gaze washing over her as he slid inside her.

"There are no rules" Bonnie sighed dragging his head down until his lips curved around hers.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

Bonnie woke up alone.

Alone in his grimy slanting apartment with moulted floors and peeling chilli-red wallpaper. Her mouth tasted like ripe piss and her head hammered viciously. She had not been this hung-over since Spring-break freshman year.

Put your big girl panties on Bonnie. Slip them on and suck it up, she thought tumbling out of his rumpled bed. She made a quick body inspection for any missing lungs, kidneys and discovered that she was wearing his shirt. It was old denim and frayed at the hem. Panic set in as she feverishly looked for her dress around his room, digging through his dirty clothes strewn across the floor and stacks of old newspapers methodically placed in the corners of the room. She eventually found it slung across his rotting sofa in a lounge scattered with black candle stubs. She didn't remember him lighting the candles for her but then again she didn't remember much from last night.

"Pretty girl! Pretty girl!"

Her muscles sprang as she turned to his parrot hanging in a white birdcage by an open window.

"Shit!" she muttered, crawling back into her skin.

"Shit! Shit!" the parrot squawked flapping its azure wings. Bonnie bound for the door, her bag and heels in hand as his parrot continued its wild screeching calls.

"Kol got laid! Kol got laid!"

The narrow streets were swarming with a bustling morning crowd as she tied his denim shirt tighter around her waist in a feeble attempt to hide last night's dress. She ambled her way through the crumbling courtyards, passing party decorations sprinkled across the dusty streets, kids carting each other around in large rubber tires and shiny pink Cadillac's filled with tourists. She scrimmaged through her bag for her phone; she had no idea what part of town she was in or how to get back to the hotel. What was clear to her however was that she was no longer in Old Havana and that this part of town was a different sort of beast all together. She chastised Caroline for confiscating her trusted map of the city because it made her look lame. Bonnie didn't like the quaking fear snaking up her spine. She was tired, hungry and her feet felt like pulverized meat in the five inch scandals. Terror set in when she saw the battery light flashing, a dulling red light of impending doom. She prayed that Caroline would pick up in two rings before she became another tourist statistic in Cuba.

"If you're not dead yet, "Caroline yelled "I'm going to kill you myself"

"I don't know where I am"

"What do you mean? Where's the guy you-? "

The sudden stultifying silence told her that the battery was a dead. She wouldn't panic, she wouldn't scream in the middle of some hot sooty street in the creepiest part of the city. She'd hold it together. The honking reminded her that Havana was crawling with taxis. Bonnie gave chase, yelling at an old red dodge depositing a customer outside a café crawling with sweaty domino players and a live salsa band.

"Hotel Saratoga, por favor!" she commanded not waiting for him to respond just in case he decided to speed off and leave her in that desolate part of the city.


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

"Bonnie, the first rule of a hook up is to call your friends _before_ you exit the club!"

"Especially in a foreign country" Elena said downing the last of her pina colada "hair of the dog," she added joggling the empty glass.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie replied pushing a strand of hair behind her ear "won't happen again"

"The guy could've turned out to be another Ted Bundy"

"Then I would've slept with Ted Bundy" she said raiding the bar fridge for a carton of juice.

"Bonnie, this is serious" Caroline's rosy cheeks turned even ruddier as she combed her wet blond hair, a terry cloth towel swathed around her slender body.

"I know" she rolled her green eyes. Her stomach was still playing rum and tequila somersaults, the bile slowly creeping up her oesophagus.

She needed her bed. Now.

"So, why didn't Mr handsome bring you home?"

"I suspect things work differently here in Havana" she replied opening the container and taking a swig.

"What happened?"

"I woke up, he wasn't there. No big deal" she shrugged even though her heart was rattling inside her chest.

"The second rule for a hook up is to at least get a cup of coffee in the morning"

"Actually, "Elena began" It's not a rule, it's just etiquette"

"With me, it's a rule" Care protested, hands flying to her hips.

"He should have at least been-"Elena started tossing herself on the bed in the far end of the small white room.

"You know what" Bonnie cut her off, "I guess guys like him break those rules"

"But Bon-Bon…"

"Im going to bed"

She had no interest in discussing her tryst with the nameless stranger who had not even bothered to have the decency of waking up in the same room with her. Bonnie wanted to forget the whole thing even happened. Trying to erase Marcel from her mind with revenge sex had certainly not helped. It had just bit her in the ass.

"Ok, drinks at one!" Caroline grinned letting the wet towel pool around her ankles.

Old Havana had a magic that bound you to her, it was especially clear in her pink sunsets when you could hear the cacophony of voices from the crowds in the palazzo. Bonnie watched as the people tumbled into the jazz cafes like the glugs of glowing sangria poured into their ubiquitous wine glasses.

This was when she fell in love with the city all over again. This was when she had no regrets about taking half her savings and escaping DC with her friends. This was when she had no remorse about giving into her desires and sleeping with a total stranger on the first night.

This was when she had absolutely no qualms about not replying to any of Marcel's countless messages attempting to explain himself. Bonnie could never understand it, never excuse him, she didn't want to. Everything they had built in the past two years was gone, vanished and all because he couldn't for one miniscule of a second keep it in his raging pants.

"Living in the moment" Caroline shook her from her thoughts with a clink of her glass as she toasted Bonnie. It had taken her more than the expected three hours to feel less comatose and ingest something. Caroline and Elena had seemingly carried on the party without her, with Elena suffering the consequences and having to sleep it off.

"Will she be ok?" Bonnie asked tasting the crisp sharp taste of white rum muddled with mint leaves.

"Yeah, she's just missing Stephan"

"She's a lucky girl"

"Yes she is" Caroline teased, her blue eyes already drawn across the room to the ashen barman with brown curls drawing cold beer from a tap.

"I believe you have something of mine"

Glancing over her shoulder, Bonnie saw the filthy blond trickster with eyes the colour of deliciously decadent scotch.

He had found her.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

Thud-dud Thud-dud…

Her heart slammed so hard against her ribcage it damn near lodged up her throat.

"Oh, It's you," she announced, a little sharper than she had intended to. She hated the way the light frolicked on his ruffled hair, loathed the dimple on his chin and the way his V-neck shirt clung around his tanned shoulders.

"Well hello there!" Caroline grinned waggling her fingers at him.

"I don't believe we've met," he smiled kissing the back of Caroline's hand "I'm Kol"

"Will you be joining us?"

"He was just passing through,"

"Actually, I don't mind if I do" he grinned collapsing into the wicker chair opposite Bonnie.

"In that case," Caroline beamed flying off her seat "I'll get us more drinks"

"Caroline, there's no need. He was just-"

"What's your poison?" Caroline deliberately ignored Bonnie grinning like a cat who's eaten the canary.

"Surprise me" he winked up at Caroline and Bonnie's throat tightened.

"Tequila shots it is "Caroline laughed strutting her way to the barman she'd been ogling all afternoon.

"You have some nerve showing up here like this," Bonnie hissed leaning closer toward him when she was sure that Caroline was out of ear shot.

"After leaving me in bed like a …like a cheap trick and then you show up here like this!"

"I'm the one who should be angry"

"Excuse me?"

"In fact I should be livid" he said digging into his pocket and throwing a ball of paper on the table.

"What's that?"

"That's what you owe me"

"_**I**_owe _**you**_?"

"You're worse than my parrot" he winked picking up the scrunched up ball and slowly unwrapping it.

"Chorizo and scrambled egg tacos for twenty pesos, "he looked up at her "they were very good tacos too"

"_**This**_ Bonnie Bennett is our breakfast bill, the breakfast you couldn't have been bothered to share with me"

"You went to buy me breakfast, is that why you left?"

"I went to buy _**us**_ breakfast, _**us.**_ Let's be clear on that"

"Where you going?" he asked grabbing her forearm as she leapt off her chair.

"The ladies room" she hissed through gritted teeth breaking free from his grip.

As she stormed off huffing and puffing at the sheer indignation of this animal, she realized that he was following her. She walked faster weaving around the crowded tables and the live band wilting on the small stage. She slammed the door shut behind her, eyes darting around the white air-conditioned toilet. Quickly she found a stall and hid inside before she heard the door open and click behind him.

This is ridiculous, she thought as her breath hastened. Bonnie you're being ridiculous.

Before she could gather her thoughts and master the courage to face him; her door flew open and there he was.

The big bad wolf.

"What do you want?"

"I want my shirt back" he said pressing in closer to her.

"Is that all?" she breathed out. Everything swelled round her and the persistent buzzing in her ears felt like she was trapped in a vacuum.

"It's my favorite shirt"

With his hands firm around her ass, Kol lifted her off the granite floor and pinned her against the stall as her legs gripped around his hips.

"And there's the issue of your breakfast bill"

"Yes Bonnie, "he breathed into her ear, hot and heavy" you owe me plenty"

"I cant…we-shouldn't-"

"hmm"

"I-I…uh...can't do this"

"You already have darling, "he nuzzled her neck "quite a few times"

"Kol...I –uh…Kol…please…"

"I love how you say my name"

"Kol…"

"I love the way it tastes on your lips" he murmured trailing his warm tongue along her bottom lip as if to taste the rum still lingering there.

"I love the way it feels on your tongue" he groaned sweeping his tongue against her tongue.

He hoisted her up as he sank to his knees, her legs clamped around his neck. Her eyes snapped shut, an involuntary response as she felt his warm breath danced on her quivering flesh. A sharp groan escaped her lips as she felt his teeth gently graze her shuddering inner thighs. She rocked her hips toward him aching for more.

Waiting. Waiting.

Bonnie's emerald eyes sprang open when she felt something cold and sticky rub against her thigh and she realized that Kol was scribbling something on her skin.

"What are you-?" her eyes darted to her open bag and she realized that he was holding her red lipstick.

"I'm writing down my number"

"Your number?" she asked in a haze of lust not quite comprehending what had just taken place.

"If you want me," he said removing her weak legs around his neck and rising to his feet" you'll call me"


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

As the Havana sun crawled higher in the sky, the hotel pool filled up with more boisterous kids with their parents looking on and drinking too many strawberry daiquiris. Bonnie touched the cold glass against her face feeling the heat of the sun on her legs. It was ferociously hot, hot and sticky with the blistering sun licking at her painted toes.

She peered at her phone for the umpteenth time, still toying with the idea of calling Kol. She'd gone cold turkey for exactly two days. It felt like a century. Bonnie was already addicted to the idea of him, the idea of a long reckless summer in Cuba.

"Isn't he lovely?" Caroline mewled with heavy lidded eyes as she slurped a pineapple daiquiri from a twizzle straw.

"Who?"

"Klaus"

"There's a Klaus now?"

"Yes, there's a Klaus now, "she twisted in her sunbed to face Bonnie" Klaus, the ridiculously hot bartender!" she cried jerking her head in the direction of the thatched bar.

"And tomorrow it will be Don Juan, the pool guy"

"What's with you?" she cocked her head peering at her friend through her long painted lashes "Sand in your-?"

"Don't you dare!"

"You should do yourself a favour and call Kol, you know you want to"

"Says who?'

"Bonnie you've been moping around the hotel for two days, "she leaned back crossing her glistening legs "call him and go get your medicine"

An hour later they queued up around the bar, limbs sun soaked and heavy as they watched Klaus line up short glasses and fill them with shots of white rum and drops of lemon juice.

"Wait till you taste this, love" he announced topping the glasses up with champagne. He set the shots down in front of them.

"Now, watch this" he said placing his hand over the top of the glass, he slammed the glass on the counter releasing the bubbles then threw back the shot quickly.

"Easy" his licked his lips, mouth curving into a quirky grin.

"Easy, "Caroline repeated leaning over to him and snaking her arms around his neck. Klaus smiled foolishly before Caroline closed the gap between them with a sloppy summer kiss Bonnie had no business witnessing.

"Hey, you good?" Elena jabbed her with her elbow.

"Yeah" Bonnie nodded vehemently into the glass before shooting back its contents in one swig.

"You miss him?"

"Kol?" she shook her head "Hell no!"

"I was talking about Marcel, you know the guy you were planning to spend the rest of your life with?"

"Yeah, until he cheated" she knocked on the bar with the glass motioning for another barman since Klaus was still lip locked with a very eager Caroline.

"That's the hardest part about relationships, "she said running her index finger around the mouth of her empty glass, "forgiveness"

"Yeah"

"Stephan forgave me, I still can't believe that he loved me that much." Her voice caught as she stared down the empty glass. Bonnie knew the story all too well, the great Stephan, Elena and Damon saga. The rumours had burned through the campus grapevine like chlamydia after Spring-break.

"Love is not about guys who rock your world; it's not about hot summers in some beautiful exotic destination." She shrugged then added" I wish it could be."

"It's about the choices we make Bonnie. The choice to love someone, "she looked up Bonnie, her red rimmed eyes focused on her face.

"To love all there is to him, to love his good, his bad and his ugly" Elena smiled watching her best friend shift anxiously in her bar stool "and to forgive his ugly."

"Choice…Stephan chose to stay with me" she tossed her brown curls back, slipping loose strands behind her flushed ears.

"If you still have any feelings for Marcel, she squeezed Bonnie's hand "Call him please"


	7. Chapter 7

SEVEN

Two days later she was standing in the middle of Kol's lounge, right on the spot that still had most of its green linoleum tiles. The heat seemed to be seeping into her skin, his rattling fan doing nothing to cool her down. It was also the first time she noticed the murals, large bycle canvases leaning against his shedding red wall. The black candle stubs were packed away and in their place stood a vase of bright yellow daisies that looked too disconcerting for the irregular space.

"You cleaned up," Bonnie said turning to Kol.

"No. I tidied up darling, "he shrugged "there's a difference"

"What's in the bag" he thrust his chin toward the plastic bag in her hand.

"Breakfast, I thought I'd save you the trouble"

"So, you're spending the night?" he asked looking wildly amused.

"You don't want me to?"

"I'm glad you came" Kol said taking the plastic bag from her and setting in on the table.

"I'm not this… girl, Kol" she spun around to face him, hands digging deep into her denim pockets.

"But you want to be"

Bonnie stood motionless.

"Why did you call?" he cocked his head "why did you come?"

"I don't know" she whispered shutting her eyes.

"You do know" he said sagging down into the couch, slipping his hands behind his head.

"Now that you have me here Bonnie, what are you going to do with me?"

She took in a sharp breath, thrusting out her chin before sauntering toward him. Her eyes steadily holding his gaze, her teeth grazing her bottom lip as the maddening butterflies raged inside her. She stopped right in front of him, hovering over him with her bare legs brushing against his dishevelled jeans. The touch shot up her spine, snaking around her neck and burning its way down to her warm groin. She was aching to kiss him, to taste him and feel the weight of him on her body.

Kol waited, his scintillating brown eyes watching her. She unbuttoned her denim shorts slowly, hands trembling at the magnitude of this moment.

"Slowly, "he directed "tease me"

Bonnie witnessed the dip of his Adam's apple and the clench of his jaw before he emitted a deep groan. She slipped the shorts off all the way kicking them to the spot next to his feet. Kol's eyes did a lazy crawl from her flushed caramel thighs, her white lace thongs to the bare breasts perking out for him. His hands slipped up the back of her knees crawling toward her rounded ass.

"You're beautiful," he said as Bonnie dipped her head to meet his. Her hair tickled his neck; her nose grazed his, eyelashes dusting his cheek before her lips swept across his. Kol drew her closer deepening their kiss and entangling his arms around her shivering body until she was straddling him. He tried to hoist her up, getting the idea of carrying her to his bedroom.

"No, "Bonnie breathed into his ear unzipping his crotch "I want you here on the couch" she whispered before reclaiming his sweet tender mouth.


	8. Chapter 8

EIGHT

They said that great loves stayed with you. Bonnie couldn't really attest to that theory but what she did know was that great sex seeped into your flesh, unsettled your bones and clung to every inebriated fibre of hair in your body until you wore your lover's soul within you.

That's how she felt about Kol in the days that she had enjoyed him. She wore his skin, draped herself with it, he breathed for her as she breathed for him.

**Symbioses.**

She hadn't left his apartment in days. She'd become lost in it, vanished inside its panels, beneath the slivers of its timber floors. She'd fallen between its cracks, disappeared inside its walls, its window panes. She dissolved in the droplets of water from its dripping taps. She wilted in the slivers of acid light from its blue wooden shutters. It had consumed her, raptured her completely.

The city liquefied into oblivion, crumbled into a yellow summer and they hid inside the folds of his apartment. Kol had forgotten the shape of the city streets, their smell and their texture. He had relinquished his claim to the city. He'd renounced, surrendered his inheritance to his Havana.

"Can I keep you?" he murmured raking his paint stained fingers through her messy curls.

"I need to go…my friends," she whimpered as he lifted her chin with a finger, brushing his lips against hers.

"So, what's your story?" she asked him, her big toe now playing with his nipple.

"I don't have one"

"You seem to know a great deal about me"

"Yes, I know you're Bonnie Bennett. I know you attend Georgetown law in DC and I know you're staying in Old Havana"

"See a great deal" she chuckled pressing her foot harder against his chest.

"What do you want to know," he finally asked stroking her leg.

"Everything," she grinned dipping her toe into his mouth, teasing his lips with it. Kol took the bait by swirling his warm tongue around her toe, sucking it into his mouth.

He slid it in and out. In and out making her breath hitch as his teeth grazed her tender skin when he drew her out his mouth. Bonnie moaned softly as he gripped her ankle dragging her firmly toward him.

"Bonnie…" he groaned kissing each knee before lowering himself over her. Bonnie draped her arms around his neck as their breath mingled into a desperate kiss. The kiss was long, aching and demanding. His hands knotted into her hair, pulling as their lips crushed, teeth grazed and tongues tangled in a frantic fever..

"Stay, "his voice caught as he pulled back to gaze into her, shattering everything she had once believed about fate and about herself.


	9. Chapter 9

NINE_

**The house always wins.**

Bonnie knew this before the white double doors to their hotel room opened. Nothing was fixed forever. Nothing was constant. The ground could give way underneath you completely at any time because fate was always in control.

She was frightened, petrified of the floating sensation she developed whenever she said his name, whispered his name and prayed his name. She was no longer numb but she felt everything. Everything swallowed her up, this fear, this anxiety and this knowing that she Bonnie Bennett was falling in love with Kol Mikaelson.

Her breath caught abruptly as the wide polished doors came undone.

**The house always wins.**

"Marcel" she breathed his name as though she was drawing out all the colour from Havana. Her pulse raced and her heart punched hard against her wheezing chest, hard enough to shatter her eardrums. He looked weathered, worn and his broad shoulders had tapered slightly but his muscles were still evident underneath the black shirt that clung to his hard chest.

"I don't care where you've been or what you've been doing" he croaked in a shallow voice framing the doorway "but I'm here. I'm here for you"

"You shouldn't" Bonnie muttered as she squeezed past him.

"I was a coward; "he grabbed her by her forearm" a man doesn't run away from his responsibilities. He doesn't run away from his home" he said as she twisted free of his grip massaging her marked arm.

"Bonnie you're my home" he insisted, fists clenched at his sides for fear of touching her again.

"What, you're here to win me back?' she spat at him, the adrenalin rushing through every part of her veins "newsflash you cheated, you cheater!" her lips quivered when she felt the sting of bitter tears burning her eyes.

"No. I'm not here to win you back. I'm here to love you back" Marcel said softly closing the gap between them.

"Screw you, I don't want it. Keep your sorry love Marcel. Keep it" she screamed, fits pounding his hard chest repeatedly. He stood there, unmoving and taking. He took it all, all her rage and all her insecurities. He took all her self- pity, her anger and her hate toward him. She had so much hate inside her and he felt it in her shuddering bones, saw it her bawling eyes.

As her rage mounted, hurling glass vases at the walls and ripping apart everything that she could get her hands on, Marcel retreated. He sat down leaning forward in the chair and observed everything.

He watched the colour disappear from her beautiful face as she crashed to the ground, chest heaving and fists clenched around her shaking knees.

"Where are my friends?" she probed taking large gulps of hot air in attempt to steady herself.

"They flew back to the states a few days ago"

"I'm not going back with you" she shook her head feeling the calmness of her thinning breath.

"You're staying in Havana?"

"Just for the summer" she pushed the hair back from her face wiping her drenched cheeks.

"You think you're in love is that it?"

"My life is no longer your-"

"You think you're in love with Kol?"

Her red rimmed eyes shot up at him, wild and uncertain.

"You think Kol Mikaelson loves you too?"

"How do you-?"

"When you're done, "Marcel sighed rising up from his chair "meet me DC" he placed a large white envelope and a glittering diamond ring on the bed next to her.

Slowly he opened the doors and turned around to look at her slumped on the white floor leaning against the white wall with glass shattered and scattered all around her.

"I love you" he said with a fiery declaration before shutting the doors behind him.

Gingerly, hands quaking she opened the envelope to reveal an airline ticket back to DC and a picture of her in bed with Kol. The next picture made her jump out of her skin. It was a blurry image of Kol Mikaelson with one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other draped around Marcel's shoulder. It had been taken last year at the governor's ball. Bonnie recognized the party decorations because she had been Marcel's date that night.

The ground gave way beneath her and she fell down into the bottomless rabbit hole.

**The house always wins. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note**: I tried to expand this chapter a little. Abby Bennett, Bonnie's mother has been slightly fashioned after Olivia Pope and I feel this makes her character meatier and also helps develop Bonnie's character more. She's not a 'fixer' per se but a high ranking lawyer in her own right.

#

**This was not the end. This was not even the beginning of the end.**

Slowly Bonnie stumbled to her feet and staggered across the hotel room careful not to step on the broken glass scattered all over the white floor. She was in a foggy daze as she removed Kol's white shirt and rumpled blue jeans folding them gently and setting them on the bed. She could still smell him on her skin, taste him in her mouth.

She stood there naked, letting the sun soak into her skin. She wanted to immerse herself in the little pleasures that she still had left. She listened to the buzz of that big red sun dipping into a dazzling periwinkle sea, the hissing heat permeating the air around her and the rumble of laughter coming from the Tiki bar somewhere in the hotel.

How long had Marcel been watching her? How long had he kept all the sordid details of her love affair? How did Marcel know Kol and had Kol known about her? Had Kol met her before…did he know that she had once belonged to Marcel?

She reached for her mobile phone, fingers jittery as she dialled Kol's number. It rang three times, exactly three times before a voice that was four decimals higher than Kol's answered, it was a woman. Bonnie drew in a long rattling breath before hanging up.

It could have been a wrong number; it had to be a wrong number. She rummaged through the closets for something to wear, anything. She had to see Kol. Slipping on a wrapped tartan dress, she grabbed her purse and made for the door not bothering to untangle her sloppy bun. She probably looked a mess, she thought feigning a smile at the concierge when she stepped out into the lobby. Her cheeks were tearstained, her eyes burned but she didn't care one bit. She had to see Kol because nothing else mattered but knowing.

Nothing.

As the vintage taxi cab passed Havana's crumbling vibrant structures, she held back the tears. She clenched her trembling jaw and tightened her mouth to hold back the damn waterworks. She wouldn't break. She wouldn't let them break her. Then as the car rounded up a dilapidated curve driving under a mosaic of clothes hanging out to dry, she saw the waiting taxi cab outside of Kol's pink eighteenth century apartment building. Everything was pink, so damn pink from the waiting Cadillac to the suitcase Kol carried as he approached the waiting taxi to the blonde already seated inside the cab in a pink dress.

Bonnie was already out of her taxi cab as Kol opened the door to the Cadillac. He stopped, looked over across the street at her but she couldn't see his eyes through the dark sunglasses. The twilight played tricks on his muddy blonde hair again. Bonnie waited, breath baited and not knowing what to expect. This man had tasted her mouth only several hours ago, been inside her and had shared every part of his soul with her and now he stood there unaffected. Before Bonnie could think, before she could act, Kol climbed into the Cadillac.

He was gone.

#

The wind picked up, a chill crawling up the back of her neck and rushing down to her arms, prickling her skin. She could smell the brackish water of the Waterfront; see the tornado of ripe yellow lights from the passing boats.

"You should probably slow down on the tequila" Abby said after Bonnie had finished taking her second shot.

"Don't do that, "Bonnie shook her head leaning back on the rattan seats outside the seafood restaurant, her mouth bitter from the tart lemon. "Don't do that motherly thing please. It's always so unflattering on you"

She had called Abigail because she had been the only person Bonnie could face when she got back to Washington. Abby had picked her up and taken her to Georgetown to collect her things from her dorm room. Thankfully Elena had not been around to question her about Havana or about Marcel.

"Listen, how about we go home and have a few glasses of wine, "she said softly brushing Bonnie's hand "then we can talk"

"How about we go home and I drink the bottle and go to bed?"

"This is not healthy Bonnie"

"And you're the expert on what's healthy?" Bonnie scoffed throwing back another shot between her gulps of long island iced tea.

"We often lose ourselves in the people we love-"

"Just stop!" Bonnie screamed startling her mother who immediately fell back into her seat crossing her legs and straightening the crease of her white trousers.

"I didn't call you here to play this Dr Phil role. You're not here to be an Oprah!"

"I need to you to be quiet…I need you to just sit still with me and be quiet." She closed her eyes, battling the tears.

"Please" Bonnie finally whispered her face crumpling as Abby came in for a big bear hug. Abigail began humming; swaying gently and Bonnie gave in as she crumbled in her mother's arms.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note**: Marcel is still a club owner/restaurant owner. I decided to stay true to a few of his character traits.

#

"A little known fact about Georgetown, "Caroline purred wrapping an arm around her newly imported lover, Klaus

"Elizabeth Taylor used to live here when she was married to her senator. "

"Is that so, love?" he smiled, his eyes lighting up.

"I just can't recall his name but-"

"John Warner," Bonnie replied starring out into the vast street to the blur of moving traffic. She smelled it again, that saltwater scent before she saw the crashing waves and heard that hissing sun. Bonnie Bennett you're hallucinating, she told herself as Klaus got up to refill their drinks.

"What happened to you back in Havana? You just vanished and-"

"Marcel knows about Kol" Bonnie announced cutting Caroline off.

"He does?"

"He has evidence, "she choked on the term before correcting herself "he has pictures."

"What pictures?"

"Pictures of me and Kol of course"

"I think he's been stalking me"

"Marcel is a lot of things but he's hardly a stalker. I'm sure there's an explanation"

"Since when are you on Team Marcel?"

"I'm on Team Bonnie" she shrugged fidgeting with her straw "Marcel cares about you, that's why he came all the way to Cuba"

"I'm not sure about that. I think he came to Havana to spy on me"

"Jeez Bon, you're not still hung up on the blonde are you?"

"No"

"Good 'cause what happens in Havana stays in Havana" Caroline winked whirling around in her seat to capture Klaus mouth as he returned with their drinks.

Bonnie chewed her bottom lip knowing fully well that whatever happened in Havana had followed her home.

#

**A butterfly that flies among the thorns will tear its wings.**

"Will you walk into my parlor? Said the spider to the fly" Marcel whispered pressing his warm lips against her earlobe.

"Damn cunning spider" Bonnie replied feeling his nimble fingers trace the dip of her spine.

"Pretty little fly"

He opened up a chair for her, his gaze crawling over her blue chiffon dress. Her eyes wandered around the heavily prepared table. Marcel had a bottle of Krug champagne chilling inside an ornate ice bucket, a healthy helping of caviar on ice and a bouquet of white roses to match his décor.

"I hear you have a new address," he purred grinning into his glass, "1301 Thomas Circle"

"You are where you live" Bonnie smirked rolling her eyes. She wasn't surprised that Marcel already knew about her change of address, he was a man to whom information came by easily.

"You look a little underdressed," he said glancing down at her naked ring finger.

"It's a new look I'm trying out"

"You've always been pragmatic Bonnie," he smiled "it's always been one of your charms."

"Don't change that," he murmured leaning closer to her "wear the damn ring"

They paused glaring at each other as the waiter opened the champagne bottle with a saber before filling up her crystal glass.

"Were you stalking me in Havana?"

The change of topic took him by surprise as he leaned back into his chair again crossing his legs. He took a sip of his scotch, rattling the ice cubes inside the glass.

"No. I was having you followed"

"Right because that is so natural, not creepy at all"

"It was for your own good"

"And having pictures taken of me was also for my own good?" she smirked, "Or are you into voyeurism nowadays?"

"I do like to watch, "he grinned with a twinkle in his narrowed eyes "but the pictures were a gift"

"A gift?"

"An anonymous gift, someone thought your little Caribbean interlude would be of interest to me"

"You're lying"

"It's the reason I came to Cuba sweetheart, "he took a sip of his scotch, his eyes never leaving hers "to rescue you"

"How do you know Kol Mikaelson?"

"You don't need tom concern yourself with that"

"I want to-"

"Let it go, "he sneered through gritted teeth before composing himself "Kol Mikaelson is a dangerous man. Promise me you'll stay away from him"

Bonnie nodded for his amusement. How could she not stay away from Kol, she had no idea where he was. He'd vanished into thin air and her only lead to Kol's whereabouts had been Marcel.

"I'm glad you called. I've missed you"

Perhaps it was time to let go of the illusion that had been Kol, Bonnie thought watching as Marcel's hand stroked her hand. She had known nothing about Kol, nothing about his family, where he grew up, what his childhood pet had been…nothing. Marcel and she had history and that had to count for something.

"I need time" Bonnie said dragging her eyes to meet his.

He grinned like a Cheshire cat as she got up to gather her purse. Ushering her out of the restaurant, she felt a chill crawl up her spine and shuddered not entirely sure if it was his hand on her lower back or the breeze blowing through the open French doors.

"Take care, sweetheart" he murmured capturing her face in his hands. His glittering eyes roamed her face settling on her slightly parted lips. His breath whispered across her cheek as he inched closer. Bonnie's lips tightened as time seemed to crawl between his lips wanting and needing to kiss her.

"I have to go, "she said in a hastened gasp.

She flew down the stairs, scuttling across the stark lobby before she stopped. She wasn't sure at first if it had been her eyes playing tricks on her; maybe she was beginning to hallucinate. Slowly she turned and retraced her steps and there in the middle of Marcel's stark white walls was a large bicycle canvas. It was the same canvas that had rested against Kol's wall in Havana. She squinted to make out the scribble on the lower left side of the painting.

Kol Mikaelson.


	12. Chapter 12

The dissonance of laughter in the lobby disappeared. Everything shut and yanked her into a spiralling light, an acid light where nothing else existed but the pounding of her heartbeat and the drumming in her ears. She let out a long breath.

The world resumed again.

The first sound she heard was the wild clatter of heels on the marble floor growing louder as they approached her, the chatter started up again drowning Beethoven's sixth symphony.

"It's a lovely piece" Bonnie commented not bothering to turn around. She could smell Davina's cloying scent of papaya as she settled beside her. She had known her as long as she had known Marcel. Davina was like Marcel's rib, they were joined at the hip and she would have been envious were it not for the brunette's gentle demeanour.

"Yes, it is"

"Who's the artist?"

"Kol Mikaelson"

"Do you know where I can get his work?"

"He's not a commercial artist. This piece was a special gift for Marcel"

Everybody just loved giving gifts around Washington didn't they, she thought touching the piece. It was Christmas in July throughout the city.

"So, he's a friend of Marcel's?"

"You could say that" Davina said with a flicker in her big eyes.

"Have you met him before?"

"I have-"

"Davina!"

They both turned to look up at the swarthy plucky man beckoning Davina.

"Thierry" Bonnie nodded much to the disapproval of Marcel's business partner.

"I have to go, it's good seeing you again Bonnie," Davina grinned patting her shoulder "welcome back"

"It's good to be back" Bonnie declared starring back at the painting. Marcel was hiding something and she was determined to find out what that something was.

#

"I need help finding an artist…at least I think he's an artist." She yelled shielding her eyes and squinting up at Stephan." He could just be some crazy nomad who likes tapas and parrots" she added tossing him the rope.

"Why don't you just Google the guy?"

"You think I haven't tried that Einstein?' -"she shook her head as she steered between the rows of moored boats toward the river tide.

"You could just ask your mother, if anyone can find this guy its Abby Bennett"

"My mother's team finds rogue CIA agents and terrorists or whatever, "she licked her lips as she battled with the helm "They could kill him by accident"

"And you think that I can help?"

"I know you can"

"You're obsessed with this man" he toyed with the ropes "Elena told me all about him"

"Yes. I am" she laughed zipping up her red parka, the wind was picking up as they ventured deeper into Potomac River.

"All I've done these past few weeks is talk about him. I wake up thinking about him, I dream about him. I obsess about his every thought, his everything"

"And you're no longer in love with Marcel?" Stephan yelled as he unfurled the sails.

"Should I be? I should really try, go to therapy, try and regain what we had…"

"But you don't want to"

"I don't know if I can. He broke us and ...and

"What?" Stephan inquired now struggling with the wine cork.

"Something broke in me, shifted when I was in Cuba"

"A sexual awakening…I'm guessing" he winked finally popping out the cork. He sniffed the wine in the bottle before pouring it into the waiting glasses.

"It was more than that Stephan"

"Why did you forgive Elena?"

"I forgave her because I couldn't take myself not forgiving her" he shrugged handing her a glass as she stepped away from the rudder.

"You couldn't live without her?"

"No. I can live without her but I don't want to" he said sinking his nose in the glass to breath the wine again before taking a big gulp.

There it was again, Bonnie thought watching Stephan.

Choice.

True love couldn't be about choice though. You cannot walk away from true love, it binds you.

#

"Miss Bennett, I presume"

Bonnie took a moment to size the woman up as she leaned against her rusted old truck. The same trusted truck she'd worked three summer jobs slumming it in small law firms across Washington DC much to Abby's dismay. She was short but not what one might call petit and she had long flaxen hair which was currently splayed across her shoulders like a wheat field in Alabama.

"Can I help you?'

"I'm here for a little chit chat" she grinned drumming her fingers against her folded arms.

"Whatever it is you're selling, I'm not interested"

"You're disgustingly pure; I can see why he fancies you" she said examining her manicure.

"Ok, I'll bite. Who are we talking about?' Bonnie shifted her weight to one leg, tugging a wet strand of her behind her ear.

"You kind of remind of her" the blonde continued looking up now. Still toying with Bonnie like a petulant child playing with her food.

"And who might that be?" She indulged her.

"Marcel's dead ex-girlfriend "she rolled a shoulder tossing back her brilliant hair.

Bonnie's stomach dipped, her heart pounding rapidly.

"And you are?"

That sinking feeling came to her even as she asked the question. Havana. The pink Cadillac. The blonde in the backseat.

"Allow me to re-introduce myself, the name's Rebekah"

#


	13. Chapter 13

**_A/N: Hey guys, just wish to inform you that I wont be updating this story anymore as I'm working on a proper rewrite with a more concrete plotline and longer chapters (think Kennett deserves that) A huge portion of it will still be set in Havana, Wshington DC and a suprise or two...So Look out for the updated fic!_**

* * *

><p>THIRTEEN<p>

Bonnie gaped down at the blonde's hand, glaring at the red and gold leaflet she held. Rebekah flicked the glossy paper once with her manicured finger and Bonnie's eyes hurled back at her.

"Go on, don't play coy, take it" the blonde persisted with her smile.

"What is it, your calling card?" Bonnie quipped, cocking her head "Hookers are us?"

"Ooh, saucy" Rebekah shrieked and chortled "you're not so pure after all ha?" she smiled nodding vigorously.

"I like you snarky, makes me all warm and tingly inside" Rebekah squirmed with a giggle before a marine bird startled both of them as it swooped into the water to capture prey.

"I'm a lawyer in training; snark is part of my charm"

"I wonder, did you ever show this side to Kol or were you too busy enjoying your sexual awakening?" Rebekah tossed her hair to one side, toying with the decorated leaflet in her hand.

"Don't you dare bring up his name!"

"What's the matter Bonnie can't forgive and forget?" she gasped catching her bottom lip between her teeth before a slack cackle escaped her mouth "Come to my party, you might just be in for in for a surprise or two" she added balling up the invitation with her hand and throwing it inside Bonnie's truck through the open window.

"Send my greetings to Marcel, "Rebekah yelled, waving at her.

X

Bonnie dropped her car keys on the coffee table as she entered the sun flooded apartment. She locked the heavy iron door behind her, assembling the code again before slumping back into the wide door with a belly aching groan. Her sea legs were heavy on the polished Maplewood floor, sneakers squishing against the floorboards.

The sky peered between DC's grey gaunt rooftops, gleaming golden in the late afternoon light. She caught sight of a flurry of grey pigeons dipping and dancing between sunlight scattered rooftops and bounded for the big stylish kitchen. She was parched and irritated, peeved about the blonde and the growing web of lies that everyone was spinning around her. She knew that Washington was a network of dirty businessmen and even dirtier politics but she never expected for that life to taint her private life not even with a governor as a father-in-law.

"Abby?" she called for her mother and sighed at the lack of response. Her mother was probably still at the office or possibly enjoying a vintage bottle of wine and rib-eye steak at Komi. Abby was loathed to admit it but she went to the restaurant for their wine pairings and nothing else, never mind their ten course meals and top grade Greek chefs. _Happy thoughts Bonbon, think happy thoughts,_ she tried to smile as she rummaged through the expansive fridge for leftover tapas and a half bottle of wine.

"Think Havana, how's that for a happy thought?" she laughed aloud, pulling out a bottle of chardonnay from the Napa Valley and a Styrofoam box of fried oyster salad. Mounting the stairs, she cradled the takeaway and wine bottle in both hands, her handbag draped over her right arm and her feet falling in loud echoing thuds on the metal stairs. She was exasperated from the climb and kicked her bedroom door rather than open it. It snapped back and ricocheted back toward her before she halted its recoil with her left elbow, butt pushing into its dark wood.

"Hello, darling"

Bonnie startled, green eyes widening at his voice, his naked presence on her big, Nantucket-red sprawling bed. For some foreign reason she could hear the city rush downstairs, trucks hooting and town cars bleating, everything was loud and frenzied even the hasty buzz of electricity from the hairs sprouting up the back of her neck.

She wanted to mime his name, not to utter the vowels for fear that they might disappear into the synthetic- air-conditioned space and with them, his flesh and his bones eradicating into nothing. Then it all came back to her, the anger, the rejection, the pink Cadillac and the blonde.

"This is it, your grand entrance?" Bonnie asked, crossing her arms over her breasts "you, naked in my bed?"

"It always works on me" Kol drawled, not shifting from the languid position. Pressed up against a pile of red pillows, his taut tan stomach seemed to ripple as he spoke; breathing in and out with every shift of muscle and Bonnie tried very hard not to lick her lips. She tried impossibly hard not to do anything; she merely stood there, gaping and scowling at the same time.

"Well, not gonna work on me" she eventually said and thanked the heavens it didn't sound too croaky and crusty "You left me in Havana" she hissed, eyes narrowed and tracking his agile movement as he moved from her bed.

"Your girlfriend is here by the way and since you two are tied at the hip, it doesn't surprise me to see you here either" she snapped, slamming the wine bottle on the side table. She wanted to scream, cry, grab, slap and hit him. All her feelings competed against each other, anger, love, hate, need; all these emotions drained her so much that they left her exhausted.

"She's not my girlfriend, darling" he smiled his infectious dimpled smile, dark eyes glowing and muddy blonde hair licking his bronzed forehead.

"She's not?" Bonnie stuttered, confused with a hesitant shake of her head.

"No. She's Marcel's little strumpet" he offered, rising from his languid position. He walked tall, tanned sinewy muscles shifting, jerking and jumping under his glowing golden skin "Oh and she just so happens to be my sister" he grinned, whirling around to face her, hands not bothering to cover his groin area.

"Rebekah's your sister?" Bonnie asked, screwing her eyes onto his too pretty face.

"Did you catch the part about her and Marcel or was that lost on you?" he teased, slipping a sharply creased thin grey sweater over his blonde head. He flicked his hair back, executing the most deliciously relaxed grin with his lush lips.

"Im more interested in you and Marcel" she said trying to stay focused, _angry black woman here Bonnie, try to play the part right. _

"I do believe he's straight, although there was that incident in Venice with him and a viscount" Kol mocked, sliding into his snug Levi jeans, very very very commando.

"Are you friends?" she asked fixing his eyes on his face, anywhere but the spot he was buttoning too leisurely with his sluggish hands.

"Define_ friends_" Kol said, a lazy smile spreading across his dimpled cheeks.

"Did you know me before Havana?" Bonnie said very carefully, tucking strands of hair behind her ears.

"I knew of you" Kol said again with that lazy Havana smile, a boyish grin that had been constructed from crochet hammocks and too many rum and cola cocktails with native girls.

"Did you know what I looked like, did you scout me out?"

"Yes" he breathed, angling his face, eyes licking every inch of her. Suddenly Bonnie remembered his mouth slacked and breathing deep and easy like that while he's been laying on top her.

"So you went to Havana to seduce me?" her hands spayed on her hips, chin thrust out to challenge him.

"I prefer the term romance," he smiled closing the gap between them "or charm perhaps?"

"Oh, you seduced me alright; you did a good job of it too" Bonnie stumbled back, almost bumping into the green reading lamp on her thick oak desk "And what did you achieve Kol, my humiliation for your sister's pleasure?"

"My sister's pleasure?" he arched his eyebrows and grinned wickedly.

"Yeah, don't the two of you have this sick Cruel Intentions thing going on?"

"Naw, darling" he laughed, throwing his head back "incest isn't my cup of tea"

"Great, so why did you go Havana?" Bonnie spat, glaring at him now with deep seething eyes" why did you spend your stupid holiday scouting me out?"

"Because Marcel asked me"


End file.
